The true magnitude of the problem for the Republican Party only becomes apparent when you compare the big blue wall to what might be called the "small red picket fence" of the consistent Republican-voting states.

For more than a century, Missouri was known as the "bellwether state" because of its tendency to swing between Democratic and Republican presidential candidates. However, recent elections suggest that presidential candidates in 2016 are highly unlikely to target Missouri as a battleground and that, just as in 2012, it will be nearly completely ignored.

It's deeply fitting that the animal in Aesop's "Please All, Please None" fable was a donkey. This kind of, let's meet people where they are and actually say nothing, approach is the best summation of current Democratic strategy.

With critical mid-terms approaching, some GOP strategists are trying to say that Republicans will benefit in midterm elections if they go on record opposing efforts to clean up our air and protect future generations from climate change. They are wrong.

What politicians do today and the tone of their comments, particularly on immigration reform, will leave an indelible mark in the minds of Latino voters and the young people who will join the electorate in the years to come.

A Martinez-Rubio ticket is just as credible as any other. On paper -- with no faces and names attached -- they tick all the conservative boxes. Add in their demographic appeal and they cut into the Democrat's potentially decades-long advantage with women and Hispanic voters.

Among the most dramatic findings reported in the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey is a large decline in turnout rates among young people. Obama's smaller margin of victory in 2012 was thus partially a turnout story.

Grassroots voices were enormously successful in 2012 and 2008. So where do we go from here? How do we continue to engage Americans in the democratic process and make our politics better reflect our population? One of the answers is in Texas -- a state that is at a political crossroads.

The reelection of Barack Obama was tarnished by a lower voter turnout rate than 2008, dropping from 61.6 percent of those eligible to vote to 58.2 percent, or a decrease of 3.4 percentage points. Here, I place the 2012 turnout rate in historical perspective.

When Missouri's electors convene on Dec. 17 to cast their electoral votes, it will mark the second presidential election in a row their state voted for the losing candidate. What are the state's proudest, most nostalgic citizens to do?

Dear People of the Battleground States, as a phone banker for the Obama for America Grassroots Campaign, I just wanted to say 'thank you' for your kindness, patience and humorous interactions after being called incessantly for months now.

Independents will once again be the deciding factor in this election, despite the pains of both campaigns to pooh-pooh the impact of self-identified independent voters like you. Governor Romney needs to carry independents by a large margin in order to win.

If you have already voted but want to do more, get to a battleground state and help out and volunteer for Barack Obama. There are never enough volunteers on Election Day to help people get to the polls.

The unknowns as we head down to the wire are significant. If the ground game is not accurately taken into account, as Obama advisor David Axelrod suggests, no doubt polling firms are struggling to account for the air war as well.